The Listening Project

Yesterday was the last day of Listening Project recording, and now I’ve got about 15 cassette tapes! I knew my fears were unfounded, but as a friend of mine said today, “it’s the curse of academia.” You never know if you (or anyone else) will make the deadline. I have clandestinely kept a photobooth diary of my feelings: every time I received something for the Listening Project (tapes, tape recorders, recordings…), I’d snap a little photo of myself with said item(s). So, for your viewing pleasure, a triptych of emotion:

In other news, I’ve already received some emails and notes from people who didn’t make the deadline but still want to participate. SO, to accommodate you slackers (it’s a term of endearment), I’ve decided to leave the Humanities Center tape recorder out for a little bit longer. All the materials you need are available in the office (and I may create some kind of basket outside the office to make the process even more convenient)… don’t forget to sign the recording release form!

And of course, a BIG thank you to everyone who has already participated. I cannot wait to hear what you have to say.

This morning over breakfast a friend/colleague told me that the Listening Project had made it onto the Anonymous Confession Boards. Now, I’ll be honest, I haven’t really looked at the ACB since sophomore year (back when I was still hoping to be nominated as one of the cutest girls at Haverford), but I couldn’t resist the temptation to see what people were saying about the LP. It’s not very long, and my overall response is something like “no comment,” but I would like to thank those anonymous individuals who think the project is cool. I hope you have time to tell a story or two.

The Listening Project recording stations exist! They were painting in Roberts Basement today, so that location will have to wait until tomorrow… but on the bright side, it will feel less gloomy with a nice fresh coat of paint!

Our opening event went really well yesterday: delicious food, intelligent guests, and lots of great conversation on interviewing techniques.

So, with these two things in mind, I will spend the next few entries enlightening you, O Readers, in various ways. I’ll unveil pictures of the various recording stations (one by one, naturally) and caption them with some insights and questions from our discussion last night. Hoowah! Up first: the DC Basement. It’s a little tucked away, but never fear: it exists… and this is what it looks like!

Is interviewing/being interviewed by someone you know restrictive or liberating? Often, if the interviewer knows you well, the “interview” can turn into a conversation, a mutually told story.

Well, the final Listening Project focus group has come to a close and the list of interview questions is set! They’ll be available online presently and so will the procedure for recording. Yesssss!

During the focus group discussion (which occurred over cups of tea I brewed myself thankyouverymuch), we talked a lot about what makes the Listening Project a compelling initiative for the Haverford community. And, of course, because I believe it is compelling, I wanted to share what we came up with: nothing like this has ever happened before. Okay, that’s a cliché, but it’s also true (Listening Project recording is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… but we won’t go there). Student voices are sorely underrepresented (read: absent) in the oral history recordings housed in the college archives. Faculty and administration have had their say and effectively preserved themselves in Haverford history… but what about the rest of us? We know you’ll have something to say about our questions, so check back soon!

Keep your eyes peeled for information about the Inaugural Day of Recording and training dates for Student Interviewers. And, as always… get in touch, if you’re interested!

All right all right all right! It’s that time of year again. What time? I’ll spare you the “back to school shopping” bit. You either already know or haven’t been watching T.V. recently and don’t care (I approve, by the way). However, excitement is still a-brewin: The Student Activities Fair is tomorrow and the Listening Project will have a table. So, if you’re curious, swing by, sign up for the mailing list, ask me questions. I will probably bring along my iPod and some headphones for anyone who is interested in listening to StoryCorps podcasts. Will there be tasty treats? Maybe.

Check out the sweet new FAQ page (i.e. the only page with any content right now). I bet I read your mind! When we get back to school, I’m going to need some help building content for some of the other pages. Since this project hinges on student participation, I’d love to get some additional opinions before I post the official recording procedure on the How-to page.

On the bright side: I think I’ve finally found the perfect tape recorders. Now I just have to wait for them to be back in stock!

I would say, “Hello world!” but it looks like that’s been taken care of. After a long summer hibernation, I am ready to attempt to engage with the English language yet again. So far so good, I think: capital letters, punctuation, clauses.

Anyway, here it is: The Listening Project. Over the course of the next semester this blog will become the home of Haverford’s latest (only ever?) campus-wide radio storytelling project… and hopefully a few more authors. In the coming days/weeks/months (!), we’ll be sharing our progress, posting links to other cool radio projects, and letting you know how you can get involved. As you may have noticed, the links in the sidebar don’t connect to much useful information at the moment, so we’ll be taking care of that as well. Mission: Next = Mission Statement! Stay tuned.

And while you wait, don’t touch that dial; touch this instead: StoryCorps.